The Mark of Gideon (episode)
Kirk is held captive on an empty duplicate of the USS Enterprise. Summary Kirk is to be transported to a planet named Gideon, a planet the Federation wants to recruit as a member. He is supposed to be beamed to the council chamber, but never arrives. Instead he appears to still be aboard the Enterprise, and there is no one else on board. Kirk explores every part of the ship, and finds no one. He has somehow injured his hand, but cannot remember how. A frustrated Mr. Spock has a battle of wills with Gideon Ambassador Hodin and the Enterprise bridge crew over just exactly what happened to Kirk. In the meantime, Kirk encounters a woman named Odona wandering the empty halls of the ship. It turns out that Odona is Hodin's daughter, Kirk is on a duplicate Enterprise located on Gideon, and he is to be used in an attempt to control the exploding population of Gideon, a disease-free planet. Odona contracts vegan choriomeningitis, the disease Kirk had and was cured from. Spock disobeys Starfleet orders and beams down to the fake Enterprise on Gideon to search for Kirk. Spock finally encounters Kirk and Odona, who's close to death. They beam up to the Enterprise, Odona is cured and takes Kirk's place as the source of the virus. Log Entries *''Captain's Log, Stardate 5423.4. We are orbiting the planet Gideon which is still not a member of the United Federation of Planets. The treaty negotiations have been difficult because Gideon has consistently refused the presence of a delegation from the Federation on its soil, or any surveillance by the ship's sensors. They have finally agreed to a delegation of one. They insisted it be the Captain of the Enterprise. I am, therefore, beaming down at once.'' *''Log entry made by Captain James T. Kirk. I am alone on the Enterprise. I have searched every area of the ship and still cannot find a trace of the crew, or an indication of how its disappearance was managed. The one thing that is obvious is that I suffered a memory lapse, during which time I bruised my arm. It is causing me some irritation.'' *''Ship's Log, Stardate 5423.8. First Officer Spock reporting. Obviously, the Gideons have transported Captain Kirk onto this replica of the Enterprise to so confuse his mind as to make him susceptible to some extraordinary experiment. It is my intention to locate the Captain and warn him before the experiment reaches its conclusion, which logic indicates means the end of the Captain's life as he knows it.'' Memorable Quotes "We must acknowledge – once and for all – that the purpose of diplomacy is to prolong a crisis." : - Spock "You're mad!" "No – we are desperate." : - Kirk and Hodin "How can you bear to look at me after the way I've deceived you?" "Well, at least you owe me the ''privilege of looking at you." "''You are a gentleman, James Kirk." : - Odana and Kirk "Crowded as my planet is, I could wish for it to hold one more person." : - Odana, to Kirk "Your report to the Federation was a tissue of lies! You described conditions that would make Gideon a virtual paradise!" "And so it was! A long time ago, what we described was true. The atmosphere of Gideon has always been germ-free... Eventually, the life span of the people increased; death became almost unknown to us. It occurred only when the self-renewal processes could no longer sustain themselves – and that happens now only to the very old." : - Kirk and Hodin Background Information * The story for this episode was co-written by Stanley Adams, who previously played Cyrano Jones in TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles". * This episode features some genuinely eerie scenes, especially the phantom faces of the Gideon population spying on Kirk and Odana. * There are a number of unique camera shots in this episode: one of Kirk shot through the glass table he is seated at; a shot of Krodak being transported while on the main viewscreen; a shot of the empty bridge from underneath one of the consoles opposite the turbolift; and an out-of-focus chess set in the foreground of an empty recreation room. * This is the only episode in which we see an exterior viewing port. The only other time a window looking outside the ship is seen is on the observation deck in "The Conscience of the King". Of course, in this case, we are not on the real Enterprise. *The exterior viewing port from this episode is the same design as the one used to witness Marta's execution in "Whom Gods Destroy". *As we see the different rooms Kirk is calling from the bridge of the fake Enterprise (Engineering, Sickbay, the corridors), the red alert signal can be seen flashing silently in Sickbay. * Both this episode and "Wink of an Eye" demonstrate how censorship of television had loosened up by 1968. Sterility, birth control and other issues of sexuality are openly discussed in both segments. * There is a continuity error in this episode's teaser. We see Kirk beamed into the transporter room of the fake Enterprise, and we then see a shot from his point of view, looking out at the transporter console. However, the transporter pad that Kirk should be standing on is vacant. (The reverse angle of the transporter room was taken from a shot of an empty transporter room in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.") * Richard Derr, who plays Admiral Fitzgerald in this episode, previously appeared as Commodore Barstow in the episode . Production Timeline * Treatment by George F. Slavin and Stanley Adams, * Story outline, * Final draft teleplay, * Revised final draft teleplay, * Final final draft script, * Filmed in late Video and DVD releases *UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 37, catalogue number VHR 2433, . *US VHS release: . *UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.6, . *Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 36, . *As part of the TOS Season 3 DVD collection. *''Expected as part of the TOS Season 3 HD-DVD collection.'' Links and References Regular Cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * James Doohan as Scotty * George Takei as Sulu * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Walter Koenig as Chekov Guest Stars * Sharon Acker as Odana * David Hurst as Hodin * Gene Dynarski as Krodak * Richard Derr as Admiral Fitzgerald * Jay Jones as a Gideon guard (uncredited) * Frank da Vinci as Brent (uncredited) References Excellency; Bureau of Planetary Treaties; Gideon (planet); Gideon; Gideon Council; medical kit; red priority; Starfleet Command; Vegan choriomeningitis; [[USS Enterprise (replica)|USS Enterprise (replica)]] External link * |next= |lastair= |nextair= }} Mark of Gideon, The de:Fast unsterblich es:The Mark of Gideon nl:The Mark of Gideon